Manatee County commissioners consider booting planning commissioners

After Manatee County Commission Chair George Kruse proposed changes March 25 to the Manatee County Planning Commission, some of his fellow commissioners questioned the advisory board’s purpose. 

It was noted the board’s official purpose is to provide recommendations to the Manatee County commissioners based on the county’s comprehensive plan and land development code. 

However, Commissioner Jason Bearden said the board also serves an unofficial purpose. 

“All the planning commission is is a recruitment tool for developers to pick their next person to go into these (commission) seats,” he said. “Everybody who pays attention knows that’s what this (board) is for.” 

The March 25 meeting ended with commissioners voting 4-3 to have county staff members bring back a motion that will start the process of removing the current planning commissioners. Commissioners Mike Rahn, Amanda Ballard and Tal Siddique cast the nay votes. 

Bearden used Rahn and former Commissioner Ray Turner to illustrate his point because Rahn was a past president of the Manatee Sarasota Building Industry Association, and Turner was a past secretary. 

“If one of those planning commissioners vote against one of (the developers' projects), you think (the developers) are going to get behind them and support them to get on the county commission?” Bearden asked rhetorically.

Rahn noted that he’s the only former planning commissioner who was elected to the current or former county commission. Turner was appointed to the seat by Gov. Ron DeSantis after Vanessa Baugh retired. 

“You want people on the planning commission who understand the comprehensive plan and the land development code,” Rahn said. “That’s not a developer pipeline.” 

Candidates for the planning commission are not required to have any particular qualifications. However, the county's website states that applicants with "experience in planning, engineering, environmental science and the development industry shall be considered in the appointment process." 

Kruse’s proposal

Kruse brought attention to the Manatee County Planning Commission for several reasons. 

1. Terms expire in October, ahead of election day. 

Kruse said it doesn’t make sense to have a (commission) board that could turn over the following month to choose members who will serve a four-year term. 

2. Not every district is represented on the current planning commission. 

Districts 1, 3 and 5 have two representatives each, while Districts 2 and 4 have no representation on the advisory board. The seventh seat was vacated by Lakewood Ranch's Monaca Onstad and will be reappointed April 3. 

3. Members are not attending meetings regularly. 

Members are regularly absent. Only five out of seven members attended the most recent meeting March 27, and the meeting before was canceled because the board didn’t have enough members to meet a quorum. 

4. Members don’t represent the opinions of the current commissioners. 

Kruse contends that members who represent commissioners give applicants a better idea of what to expect when going before the commission.

He wants each commissioner to choose his or her own representative for the Manatee County Planning Commission. 

He used a recent project, The Crossings, as an example as to how someone representing Commissioner Amanda Ballard in District 2 could have been beneficial. 

Ballard fought hard for the residents in her district after a senior assisted living facility, The Cottages, was turned into a drug rehabilitation center, The Crossings, despite the zoning being specific to its prior use as a facility for senior citizens with mental health conditions.

The motion passed 4-1 with Commissioners Bob McCann and Tal Siddique absent. 

Kruse said if someone advocated against that project as passionately as Ballard did, the applicant might have made adjustments to their plan before it went before the commission.

Kruse is tired of hearing from applicants that they received unanimous approval from the planning commission, as if that means they’ll receive unanimous approval from the commission.

Unanimous votes simply aren’t helpful to Bearden. He wants to know why someone would vote against a project, but he’s not concerned that members don’t think like him. He wants members to think logically and honestly.

“I want somebody that’s voting for what they believe is right and true at that moment, not because they’re trying to set themselves up for their next job,” he said.

When staff returns to the commission with a motion to remove the current members of the planning commission, it will take a supermajority of 5-2 to pass. 

If it does pass, Kruse said it’s likely the terms will run through the end of the year. 

Correction: This article has been updated to state five out of seven members attended the March 27 meeting.